A dream to fly

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"It seemed like such a much better way to travel, soaring over all the little washes and canyons," she recalled.

Brady will soon get her wish. The 17-year-old Monument Valley High School senior has been accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy - perhaps the third MV student to earn that distinction.

Actually, she's been accepted into the academy's preparatory program, which means she has a little more work to do before she can become a cadet. But neither Brady nor her instructors have any doubt she can do it.

"She's a well-balanced, well-rounded individual who I think will do very well at the Air Force Academy," said her physics teacher, Steve Clasen. "The academy will also benefit from having her there. As a female Native American, she'll have an opportunity to bring qualities they don't usually get there."

There are a few Navajos at the academy: freshmen Shandiin West of Ganado and Chad Harvey of Sanders, sophomore Fallyne Henderson of Window Rock and junior Desbah Yazzie of Flagstaff.

But when Brady went to check out the Colorado Springs campus, at the invitation of her admissions liaison officer, she didn't meet any of them.

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"I met people (with ancestry) from Russia, Germany and Hawaii, but no Natives," she said.

She did, however, get a glimpse of some four-star generals.

"It just happened to be the week of the Army-Air Force game," she recalled. "People were coming in from all over."

If Brady had harbored any doubts about entering the academy, the visit did away with them.

"Everyone was nice," she said. "It made me feel even better about my decision."

Actually, the decision was sort of a non-decision.

"I've always been interested in the military," Brady said. "But I always wanted to go to college too. I thought I would have to make a choice between the service and higher education."

Then her sister, also a student at Monument Valley, brought home a brochure about the academy.

"As soon as I found out I could go to school and be in the military, I started the application process," she said.

The application was "probably the hardest thing I've ever had to fill out." It involved eight essays, soliciting a recommendation from three members of Arizona's congressional delegation and turning in her SAT, ACT and transcripts (no problem there, with her 3.8 GPA).

Then there was the physical. She doesn't remember how many sit-ups and pushups were required within the two-minute time frame, but she passed with 45 and 55, respectively. Then she had to run a mile and do some pull-ups, which aren't part of your typical college application.

West said the quartet of Diné cadets already at the academy will welcome the new "preppy."

"We're all here for her if she ever needs anything," the former Ganado High School basketball standout e-mailed from her quarters. "We kind of got our own little Navajo family between the four of us."

When she graduates, Brady will be commissioned a second lieutenant - and have a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Brady hasn't thought much about what she actually wants to do in the Air Force.

"I guess they'll find a place for me," she shrugged.

If not, there's no question this outstanding young Diné will find a place for herself.

Brady is the daughter of Eloise James Young and Benny Young. She is Folded Arms Clan, born for Tobacco. Her cheis are Edgewater and her nalis are Water Flowing Together.

(Since this story was published and posted on the Navajo Times Web site on Jan. 28, a reader reported that the first Monument Valley High graduate to attend the Air Force Academy was Roger Fennell, class of 1982, and that Johnny Ray Begay, another MVHS grad, attended the academy in the 1980s.)

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